Wednesday, May 24, 2006
12:36 PM
"So, Zichun, where are you going?"
"Oh, I'll be doing Life Sciences in NUS, going to be a teacher... signed a teaching scholarship, you see..."
I almost always give this answer, followed by a joke or two about the civil service and 'students nowsaday', when generically asked about my tertiary education. And every time I answer, with a dramatically feigned air of altruistic resignation to a future life of suffering as a teacher, I can't help but suddenly feel a little uneasy. Maybe it is because I've not recieved any official word from neither NUS nor MOE ever since July last year. Maybe it is because many of my friends have started going for their medical check-ups at NUS already, whilst, strangely, I still haven't gotten any shred of news from NUS.
Well, in any case, I received a letter from MOE (sent BY HAND via Speedpost no less!) at long last two weeks ago on a Thursday afternoon. In it were various forms, and instructions to start applying for hostel accomodations and all that; stuff that made me feel even more uneasy, as the instructions all appeared to require some form of official liason with NUS.
So I started to dig up all the letters pertaining to my tertiary education that I've chucked aside during my busier days in the army, and with a latent sense of dread, I found a yet unopened, official-looking letter from NUS dated Dec '05. I tore it open nervously, and saw two sheets of paper that said 'OAM Form A' and 'OAM Form B'. The thing that caught my eye were the letters printed in bold at the bottom of the letter: 'If you do not reply to us by 11 Jan '06, we will take it that you are rejecting your place in NUS'.
I kid you not, cold sweat broke out instantly. I can't imagine how it is that I've not noticed nor remembered seeing this letter for the past 5 months! I experienced this heavy chill in my heart, very much like how I felt that time in the Biology examination hall for Block Test in JC2 when I realised that I didn't know how to do a single question for that exam; I felt like I was really screwed.
Then I noticed the OAM Form B (OAM Form A was a matriculation confirmation form) mentioning about the warm and happy family of the ENGINE FACULTY... I had initially applied to Engineering in '04, but because I got offered the MOE scholarship in '05, I had to change my faculty to Science. I vaguely remembered receiving news in July '05 about having had my course of study changed to Science from MOE, though I did not verify with NUS myself.
I became very confused. And my cold sweat temporarily evaporated. I convinced myself I must be worrying unduly, and that there must've been a mistake by NUS or something. I sent the MOE scholarship officer a good-humoured email to inquire about this apparent anomaly, and slept soundly at night during the long weekend.
So imagine the horror I felt when I found out that the scholarship officer was equally clueless about this issue. She sounded rather concerned, but she was really busy due to all the interviews for this year, and would appreciate very much if I could verify with NUS myself, and report back to her so that she can follow up.
I dialed what I deemed to be the relevant contact for NUS, got re-directed a few times, and finally reached the OAM office. After some polite enquiry, and having given my name and NRIC number, it appeared there was no record of me in their database!
I panicked.
"Oh, so you signed an MOE scholarship and had to change course? Did you reapply to Science this year? No? Oh dear... I think you're supposed to do that, otherwise I don't think you'd have a place in NUS at all..."
Cold sweat again. All sorts of ideas started cramming into my head. I started imagining this dark and gloomy scenario of me having to wait another eternity that is one year, under the ridicule of friends and peers and the incessant chiding of my parents and the authorities came into my head. How is it that I have allowed such a terrible freak accident to have occured?
By this time, I had more or less descended into a frenzied paranoia. I remembered making my way down to NUS twice last week, digging even more frantically into every single letter I had receieved last year, and calling up either the MOE side or NUS side once every fifteen minutes. I think the most important thing that happened was that I found a letter from NUS dated July '05 saying that they have successfully transfered me from the Engine faculty to the Science faculty.
So on the second visit to NUS, with that letter from them as incriminating evidence, I was handed an unsealed envelope, with the freshmen guide, numerous brochures, and the all-important official letter telling me in no uncertain terms that I DO have a place in NUS Science, that is, after they took the letter I produced into their office to process and photocopy. I was still in a daze really when I was handed the envelope.
"Uh what's this? So does that mean I do confirm actually really have a place in NUS already?"
"Yes that's right."
"Huh? Ok, uh, so uh, what actually happened? How is it that I got a letter from your side asking me to confirm my acceptance into the Engine faculty? (And how come I didn't open the letter when I first receieved it in Decemeber last year?)"
"I think they forgot to update the system about your change of faculty... but it's settled now, thanks to the letter you brought. (How would I know why you didn't open your letter when you first got it?)"
...
Actually, up till now, I'm still not really sure what exactly happened. How did I fail to open such an important letter from NUS for 5 months? Was there a cock-up by NUS? Did I have a place in Science all along, or did I actually crucially corrected an NUS cock-up at the critical moment?
I suppose I'd never find out, nor is it really important to do so, come think of it.
If you ask me, the most important thing is that, now, when people ask me about my tertiary education, I can answer them with all due irreverence and confidence, without feeling uneasy later on, and waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweat, hallucinating about not being able to find my name on the list during registration into NUS.
Well, what a way to get acquainted with NUS...
Comments:
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26 comment)
Nice post dude.. reminds me of how I always had to tell people that I'd be going to UNSW while I wasn't yet sure I'd get a place...And I said UNSW not because I wanted to come, and would rather much prefer UWA, but because UNSW sounded better.. Alas, look at what God does.. He loves pulling our legs sometimes.. ;)
Wilbur
Wilbur
# posted by 
: 6:12 PM
: 6:12 PM
At least now you can claim to possess an aura of mystery surrounding you. Deep and perplexing mystery. Like the Bermuda Triangle and UFOs.
I think I counted at least 3 instances of 'cold sweat' in this one post. Your poor mother.
Have you learnt how to do the laundry yet by the way?
I think I counted at least 3 instances of 'cold sweat' in this one post. Your poor mother.
Have you learnt how to do the laundry yet by the way?
haha we shd meet up one day! wif ap too! then can tell us which hostel u gg to, which day u matriculating etc so we can go bombard u :)
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